The 2025-26 men’s college basketball season has been going on since early November, all leading up to March, and the famous 68-team NCAA tournament, better known as March Madness.

March Madness over the years

March Madness has had many memorable moments in recent years, such as the double buzzer-beater in the 2016 championship between North Carolina and Villanova. With time running down, UNC’s Marcus Paige hit a remarkable three-pointer to tie the game with 4.7 seconds left, only for Villanova’s Kris Jenkins to go down and put the game away with a clutch deep three as time expired.

In the 2021 Final Four matchup between #1-seeded Gonzaga and #11-seeded UCLA, the game was tied 90-90 after a layup by UCLA’s Johnny Juzang, and with 3.3 seconds left in overtime, Gonzaga’s Jalen Suggs took a few dribbles and heaved a shot from halfcourt. It bounced off the backboard and in, sending Gonzaga to the national championship.

Every year, there are moments like these that show why March Madness is so popular for some. It’s because of the pure excitement, uncertainty, upsets, and nostalgia the tournament brings.

Cinderella Runs

Almost every single year, there’s a team that’s a big underdog every game, and yet they still keep winning. This is what is known as a “cinderella run”, named after the fairy tale.

When most March Madness enthusiasts think of a cinderella run, they think of 2018 Loyola-Chicago. Coming into the tournament, the Ramblers were a #11 seed who were pretty overlooked. What followed in the next few weeks would be historic. In the first game against the number 6-seeded Miami, Loyola-Chicago was down one with a couple of seconds left, and it looked like the Ramblers would be going home, until Donte Ingram buried a long 3-ball to win as time expired and put Loyola-Chicago into the next round against #3 Tennessee. In that game, Loyola found themselves in a similar situation to the last, being down one with time running out. With a few seconds on the clock, Clayton Custer shot a mid-range jumper that hit the rim and looked like it went out, until it hit the backboard and fell in, sending Loyola-Chicago into elation, and to the Sweet 16 against #7 Nevada. In that game, Loyola clung to their lead as they beat Nevada 69-68 to go to the Elite 8 and face off against #9 Kansas State. The Ramblers carried the momentum and had a big win to go to the Final Four. Their run would end when they went against a Michigan team that was on fire, especially after Jordan Poole’s buzzer-beater earlier that tournament. This 2018 run is a staple of Cinderella runs and will be remembered for years to come.

This year, there are plenty of potential cinderella teams. #11 Texas, which was one of the last four teams to make the cut, has already upset two big teams. They started with a 68-66 win over NC State in the First Four to send them into the tournament. Then they upset both #6 BYU, which has one of the best players in the country with AJ Dybantsa, and also #3 Gonzaga, showing that the Longhorns deserve the spot they were given in the tournament. Texas faces off against #2 Purdue in the Sweet 16 on March 26.

Bracket-Making

Every year, millions of people fill out millions of brackets, and every year, there is no perfect bracket, but why is this?

It’s a very simple concept. All a person has to do is pick the right teams to win. But the odds speak for themselves; the odds of a perfect March Madness bracket are 1 in 9.2 quintillion (they’re a little bit better if you know something about basketball). To put that into perspective, if a person picked out a grain of sand at random and you had to guess which grain of sand it was on the entire Earth, you would have better odds than getting a perfect bracket.

There’s no telling what could happen. Maybe one year, the unthinkable could become reality. Maybe someone will defy the absurd odds.

Either way, bracket maker or not, basketball enthusiast or not, March Madness is going to bring an electric atmosphere to the world; it’s going to have craziness, it’s going to bring memories to countless people, like every single year before.